Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Where She Went (If I Stay #2)

Gayle Forman

Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Pages: Hardcover, 264 pages
Publisher: Dutton

It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

The sequel to such an amazing first book definitely did not disappoint. While written in a completely different voice and in a different style, the story of Mia and Adam was again opened for readers to explore. As with If I Stay, I could not put this one down. I read it in just a few hours. I loved hearing from Adam and seeing (again through those amazing flashbacks) what happened in the three years since we last left the characters. Seeing both Mia and Adam adults who are dealing with the issues that a rock star and a world renowned musician are faced with, was wonderful for me as a reader. Often I am left wondering, “What happened to these characters?” So many questions were answered with this novel and new stories were opened as well.

As much as I loved the ending of If I Stay and wanted it to go on, it really could have ended there and Forman could have let my imagination go wild. I am so glad she didn’t though because she has done a much better job than my brain ever could. The theme of family and its importance is still prevalent in this novel, but in a different context. Both Adam and Mia are figuring out who they are and who their family is. We all know that blood does not make us family and within every family (no matter what the dynamics) there will always be drama, misunderstandings, hurt feelings and unconditional love. That is what I loved so much. They were both trying to find that all this time without each other and then in one night… could things change for them? Have they found their balance after all these years? Go read it and see!

Read my review of If I Stay here and you can also find Gayle’s information there for contact!

Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Pages: Hardcover, 197 pages
Publisher: Dutton

In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...


A sophisticated, layered, and heart-achingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make - and the ultimate choice Mia commands.

I have to admit that this book has been on my shelf for quite a while but I just haven’t gotten around to reading it. I have no clue why now. This novel was so beautifully written that I could not put it down for fear that I would miss something or get out of the zone. The accident changes Mia’s life in ways seventeen year olds rarely experience and she is forced with the decision of a lifetime… literally.

I couldn’t get away from the plot of the novel or the characters. Mia’s character was so well written that readers will feel as if she is a real person and a friend you are reading about. Mia introduces us to the other characters in the novel with her flashbacks and allows us to see into her life before the accident. Her parents have to be the most laid back parents ever but we find out why that is… they are a product of the music! I loved them. I could picture her little brother so vividly with his bouncy personality and blond curls. Mia also points out that she is different from them in many ways (from the dark hair to the classical music) but knows that there is a bond between her family that supersedes all of those differences.

As a writing teacher I am constantly reading to pull examples to show my students what good writing is. This is a novel my students will be seeing quite a bit of next year. Forman’s creative use of word choice creates characters whom are beyond real, a plot which is unlike any I have read before and shows how relationships play a definite role in our lives. Take a look at this portion:

The car is eviscerated. The impact of a four-ton pickup truck going sixty miles an hour plowing straight into the passenger side had the force of an atom bomb. It tore off the doors, sent the front-side passenger seat through the driver’s-side window. It flipped the chassis, bouncing it across the road and ripped the engine apart as if it were no stronger than a spiderweb. It tossed wheels and hubcaps deep into the forest. It ignited bits of the gas tank, so that now tiny flames lap at the wet road. p. 13

The imagery, figurative language and pure beauty of this section are astounding as are the rest of the novel.

Luckily, I have the second novel in the series right on my shelf (and actually I already started reading it) and will see where the story takes me next. I cannot wait.

Visit Gayle HERE and follow her on twitter (@gayleforman). You can also visit the site for the novel HERE.